The PAS-led Kelantan government is not seeking charity from Putrajaya, said the Islamist party's president Abdul Hadi Awang.

He pointed out that the federal government has a responsibility to provide financial aid to the state.

"Kelantan is part of the federal system being practiced. Kelantan also pays taxes, on vehicles, clothes, food. All this tax is collected by the federal government's Customs Department.

"Kelantan also has natural resources that the federal government takes. So it is the federal government's responsibility to pay back the state. This is their duty. We are not asking for charity," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

He was responding to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, who earlier disclosed a letter from the Kelantan government seeking federal assistance to pay the salaries of civil servants in the state.

Hadi said such assistance was also given during the BN era, although there were times the previous government would delay the assistance.

Meanwhile, on Lim asking Kelantan to explain why it has such high debt, Hadi said all states have debts to deal with.

He added that Kelantan has been able to settle its debts gradually for the past 28 years, even though it was "under siege" from the federal government.

"I doubt Penang would be able to do what Kelantan has done without resources, like Kelantan," he said.

Lim was the former two-term chief minister of Penang.

The exchange over Kelantan's finances started in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday when PAS lawmaker Takiyuddin Hassan asked Lim if states affected by the suspension of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) could fund the project themselves.

The minister responded that he was not confident that Kelantan would be able to raise funds for the project because “it could not even pay salaries” for the civil servants.